Topic: Commercial Banking

Buying American Citizenship…on Credit

While comprehensive immigration reform simmers on the political backburner in Washington D.C., banks are embracing the nation's 12 million-plus illegal immigrants, targeting their financial products--checking accounts, mortgages and, ...READ»

BofA Goes Green

It looks like Bank of America (BofA) is trying to be the bank of Al Gore. America's largest retail bank has already cast its vote in the illegal immigration issue, and on Tuesday BofA weighed in on the global warming debate, ...READ»

Slavery and Profits, Then and Now

Wachovia Bank yesterday released a report on its history as a slave-owning and slave-profiting institution, with details going back almost 200 years. The report was motivated by laws passed by the cities of Chicago and Phliadelphia, ...READ»

By Any Other Name, it's Still the Same

Jose D. Roncalwww.financialspeculation.comNationalization. The word makes one shudder!  It might even drudge up old images of the hammer and sickle or Mao's men marching in khaki uniforms!  We've already mentioned the ...READ»

Big Dumb Bank Wedding

We all know the pitfalls of poorly planned mergers and acquisitions--diminished shareholder value, damaged internal cultures--but I recently had a chance to experience first-hand yet another significant snag of corporate marriages. ...READ»

Judge the Nudge

1. Paper Route USA Today became the nation's largest daily newspaper by getting inertia on its side. Twenty-two percent of its average daily circulation of 2.3 million readers comes from getting its paper distributed in ...READ»

• Get Laziness on your Side

What's The ROI On That Skybox?

Bank of America's ticket inventory numbers in the hundreds of thousands, including seats in more than 80 suites for teams like the Boston Red Sox, the Dallas Cowboys, and the San Francisco Giants. Managing that inventory? That wasn't ...READ»

How to Make Banking Fun

Can innovative new programs make saving money as fun as spending it? READ»

• Silicon Valley's Angel Investors

Can Chicago's PrivateBancorp Hire Its Way Into the Top Tier?

You can build a business step by step, from the ground up. You can build one through acquisitions. Or you can just poach your competitors' best talent.READ»

Giving Credit

I didn't think much of Discover Bank's early experimentation with smaller-scale credit card designs because I don't have a Discover card, but a Bank of America Visa ad that aired last night during The Gilmore Girls made me reassess ...READ»

Crises Opportunities

Specific crisis opportunitiy long and short tradesREAD»

When Companies Rev Up Their Corporate Routines

When companies rev up their corporate routinesREAD»

Power Partners

The early Internet economy involved startups that vowed to render corporate "dinosaurs" obsolete. Today, the most ambitious online players are those dinosaurs. The future belongs to partnerships. Wells Fargo is inventing the future with young dotcoms.READ»

The Death of 'Cruel Arrogance'?

Arrogance will never die of course, but hopefully the last few months have set it back a pinch. The Wall Street Journal had a remarkable piece this past weekend on the banking boom and bust of Iceland. An entire economy - currency ...READ»

How the Credit Crisis Affects Small Business

The big media is talking about big dollars, big companies, and big bailout packages.  Sub-prime mortgage backed securities, money market mutual fund savings, and now commercial paper have all been at the center of the conversation ...READ»

Perspectives On Wachovia

I read in the news yesterday where Wachovia Bank lost $8.9 BILLION last quarter - mainly in the mortgage idiocy, apparently - and summarily laid of 6,340 people without so much as a 'by your leave'. 6,340 people is just about 50% ...READ»

Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy

Congrats to Millipore, who we highlighted in our book, for their induction in BSC Hall of Fame. CEO Madaus, VP Fin Couturier - well done!READ»

Watching Financial Institutions Get Crushed

Watching these financial institutions get crushed makes for some interesting reading. Of course, since I work in the shorts stock marketing, I have no information or way to know if Bank of America would buy Lehman. But, the ...READ»

Hennion and Walsh: What's Ahead For The Financial System?

"With the continued news and noise around AIG, Washington Mutual, Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch, it all seems like it's going up to a crescendo in terms of the doom and gloom and bad news."READ»

September Song For Wall Street

29 December 2008 Jose D. Roncal www.financialspeculation.com It wasn’t just autumn leaves that started falling last September; it was the entire investment banking system. When Lehman Brothers got into deep financial trouble and ...READ»

Do Financial Brands Add Up?

The global economic meltdown has been bad news for financial services brands, straining the media of marketing communications as much as balance sheets.  The fundamental question is whether branding can overcome the rational as ...READ»

Working for the Enemy

How to cope when your biggest rival snaps you up.READ»

The Big Bank Balancing Act

16 January 2009 Jose D. Roncal www.financialspeculation.com I remember the good old days when banks used to lend money to “we the people.” Now we’re being forced to lend money to them. Not so long ago, banks were eager to get ...READ»

Leading Listener: Trader Joe's

Customer feedback doesn't have to come from sophisticated research. At Trader Joe's, it's all about listening to people.READ»

Kate Millett

College: Wake Forest University Major: Communications Hometown: Carrboro, North Carolina Age: 22 First Job: Operations manager for Wachovia Bank in Atlanta. "I'm going to be managing a team of 15 people. For instance, if you have a ...READ»